With travel disruption regularly causing chaos it’s easy to understand the lure of the staycation. And the peace and tranquility of Ambleside in the Lake District is as far removed from the stress a delayed flight or cancelled train as you can get.
It’s been several years since I stayed in The Lakes, even though it’s a fairly short drive from where I live, and it’s a pleasant jaunt too.
When that stunning scenery, peppered with mountains and crags, looms into view your holiday really begins with the journey – especially if you’re brave and tackle The Struggle on the Kirkstone Pass, a steep ‘shortcut’ into Ambleside.
Needing a break from the city, my partner and I checked into The Waterhead Hotel, which was the Lake District’s first town house hotel to offer a boutique-style experience.
The Waterhead might look like your traditional Lakeland slate building from the outside but, inside, owners English Lakes have managed to combine all the best bits of a comforting, home-from-home environment with a touch of cosmopolitan finesse, with snazzy artworks and little twists of luxury.
Landscapes and photos mix with modern art installations of slate, glass and stone on the walls of the restaurant, reception and lounge areas – and even the bathrooms have an artistic air with glittering ceramic and slate tiling. Our room was one of the luxury lake view rooms – big airy bedrooms with huge, superking-size beds and great views across the lake.
Within five minutes I’d sussed the fabulous extras that come with a top-level stay: a Nespresso coffee machine, Tea Pigs tea pyramids, The White Company bathroom toiletries, mini Lakes Distillery gins and Fever Tree tonics, fresh Grasmere gingerbread (it’s the best there is, trust me) and complimentary jars of mixed nuts and jelly beans.
A knock at the door from room service brought fresh ice for those gins and, later, pillow spray, moisturiser and chocolates – it’s all about those little luxury touches!
There’s also lots of storage in trendy wooden wardrobes and drawers, lots of powerpoints, hairdryer, trouserpress, Bluetooth radio, free WiFi, TV and DVD player, and the reception has a huge library of DVDs to borrow which is no doubt vital if you stay with young ones and it starts to rain.
And rain it will - it’s the law of The Lakes! However, that doesn’t matter when you’ve got your waterproofs and boots on and there’s all manner of outdoor shops in Ambleside to stock up on waterproofs and fleeces if you need to.
Each night the hotel puts out a weather forecast for the following day so you’ll know if you need to get out the brolly. Truth be told we didn’t turn on the TV once. Even when it bucketed it down on the second night, sitting and looking out was as welcome a tonic as the G&Ts, and by day the view out of the window across Lake Windermere was just blissful.
We weren’t in The Lakes to stop indoors the whole time, sumptuous as it was, and one of the best things about the Waterhead Hotel is its location. It’s a short walk away from the centre of Ambleside and right opposite its ferry landings, with very regular ferries taking you everywhere around Lake Windermere – and the hotel has 10% discount vouchers off boat trips.
There’s also a bus stop outside the front entrance, so we left the car in the guest car park for the duration of our stay and just used our feet and public transport. Like a lot of visitors to The Lakes, we wanted to do some walking, take in the stunning scenery and climb, hike and trek through as much of it as possible in between relaxing.
I love a good weekend walk, but aside from owning the essentials I don’t consider myself brave enough to venture too far off the beaten track. And that’s where the hotel scores big bonus points.
They’ve printed a number of hard copy, popular walks with simple step by step instructions, called #bootique walks, which you can pick up from reception, all of which start and end at the hotel itself.
We tackled Jenkin Crag and Low Wood Bay which took you on a steep climb up the hill right behind the hotel, with spectacular views over Windermere, where we were lucky enough to see a Spitfire flying over the water. Other walks take in Stockghyll Force Waterfall and High Sweden Bridge, (and I might have taken copies of those home to tackle another time).
After a pit stop back at the hotel for a cup of tea and chunk of gingerbread, we took the ferry to Bowness to explore its myriad boutiques, tea shops and galleries, mixed in with upmarket chain shops like Barbour, Pandora and L'Occitane, but could quite easily have ventured to Lakeside and the Lakes Aquarium, Coniston, Keswick or Grasmere.
All that walking, however, works up quite an appetite, which accounts for the huge number of restaurants in and around Ambleside serving hungry hikers.
Ambleside and the wider area has long held a reputation for its foodie offerings and the Waterhead Hotel’s own Bar & Grill can more than hold its own against the town’s top bistros.
I’ve been caught out in hotels before with stuffy, strict dress codes, but was relieved the Bar & Grill had no such restrictions and instead found an atmosphere of relaxed, cosmopolitan cool in the main restaurant in the evening.
A look at the menu hinted that our meal would be just as big a highlight as the stay itself, and I really could have chosen any one of the main dishes. The Bar & Grill serves an all-day menu in the restaurant, bar area and out on the hotel lawns, and welcomed in lots of weary walkers while we were there. Dogs are also welcome in the hotel too.
The main restaurant’s decor was dominated by cool colours and warm, dark wood furnishings, coloured uplighting and striking, abstract art. We sampled the evening menu, which makes locally sourced, seasonal ingredients the stars.
We were totally absorbed in the food – poached hen’s egg with creamy wild mushrooms and smoked mackerel bruschetta to start and grilled sea bass, with tempura baby leeks and crushed new potatoes, and confit pork belly with sauteed greens and noodles to follow.
I didn’t really have room for pudding but couldn’t miss out on a coconut panna cotta with rhubarab gin and poached rhubarb. It was all so wonderful I wished I’d had the chicken popcorn with black garlic ketchup as a pre-starter appetiser too.
After a good night’s sleep in the enormous bed we found breakfast to be just as good as dinner, and during our stay we sampled their great full English breakfast and American-style pancakes and bacon. Breakfast is served until 10am, which is great if you want a lie-in, and is well stocked with just about everything you could want for breakfast, including fresh juices, pastries, cereals and fresh fruit salad.
Set right across the road from the Windermere shoreline we had no excuse for not walking off the hearty food - and to take in the fantastic scenery.
But, like us, you might be just as happy to perch on the jetty, take in the views and recharge your batteries.
FACTFILE
- Coreena Ford spent two nights at The Waterhead Hotel, Lake Road, Ambleside, Cumbria, LA22 0ER.
- Telephone bookings:0333 2203 106/ General enquiries: 015394 32566
- Rooms and tariffs start from £146 per room per night, based on two adults sharing a twin or double room and inclusive of bed and full English breakfast. For more details visit englishlakes.co.uk/waterhead
- Activities include the Lakes Aquarium and Windermere Jetty: The Museum on the Lake can be accessed by the Windermere Lake cruises, Tel: 015394 43360.
